Here's a block+some finishing of the horseman attack. Should (finally) be fairly straightforward to finish him and his line off, except for the business of making a sword attack.

I'm not sure if this needs another inbetween frame or two (it's currently 6 frames), but I'll probably decide after seeing it in game. This demo is a first for me, given the nature of the unit - it's a demo where I've made the sprite actually translate its position like it would in-game. I needed to do that because without it, I was having trouble getting stuff right.

(Actually, right now, I'm thinking I need to make the windup even more dramatic, and also have one more frame of the horse "skidding into" the moment-of-contact during the attack. That and maybe actual "steps" during the recover, depending on if I actually have temporal room for them.

Something bothers me slightly about the way the horse's head moves - i can't find a good video right now, but I have a feeling they tend to pull the head down rather than stretching it out when the attack hits. And you didn't mention it, but i'm sure you will do - a lot more movement through the shoulders.

That being said, I'm a little nervy about including quite so much weapon blur, especially on the butt end of the spear - the timing will have to be good to ensure that it looks like he's thrusting rather than striking with the spear.

Otherwise, it's looking good. Regarding the base frame, however, i wonder if some brighter highlights aren't needed on his breastplate - it could look a little more metallic.

thespaceinvader wrote:Something bothers me slightly about the way the horse's head moves - i can't find a good video right now, but I have a feeling they tend to pull the head down rather than stretching it out when the attack hits.

Right you are. I was feeling something wasn't right there.

thespaceinvader wrote:And you didn't mention it, but i'm sure you will do - a lot more movement through the shoulders.

Of the human as he strikes?

thespaceinvader wrote:That being said, I'm a little nervy about including quite so much weapon blur, especially on the butt end of the spear - the timing will have to be good to ensure that it looks like he's thrusting rather than striking with the spear.

Timing isn't a worry, since we have iron-grip control over that thanks to boucman. Whether the motion-blur (of the spin) in general is a good thing remains to be seen, but I'm hopeful.

Yeah, through the human's shoulders - it's a rule of perception thing, since I don't think a normal jouster or lancer would actually move his shoulders much if at all when he strikes (if anything, slightly backwards as he takes the impact), but the lance is going to be thrusting forward relative to the horse somewhat, (since there isn't much distance to lend impact, and the horse stops and goes back to the rest position after the strike), which needs to be reflected in the shoulders of the horseman.

TSI's probably right. As he lowers his lance I'd move his lance arm shoulder back a bit and his other shoulder forward. Then reverse them as he strikes and lean him over a bit. "shrug" I guess you will have to find a compromise between making it look like a charge and a normal spear thrust.

About the run, When you continue with this I would suggest that you make the main body move around a bit more. And perhaps make the rider bounce up and down in the saddle. To make the movement well readable in game.

Sometimes we must be hurt in order to grow, fail in order to know, lose in order to gain, and sometimes we must have to be broken so we can be whole again...
- Nercy Masayon